basketballfandomcom-20200223-history
Louisville Cardinals
The Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team is the 18th winningest college basketball team in NCAA Division I history and has the 10th best winning percentage in college basketball history. Currently coached by Rick Pitino, the Cardinals of the University of Louisville have a tradition of continued success, having been to 37 NCAA tournaments (5th all time)2008-09 Louisville men's basketball media guide with 60 tournament wins (6th all time). Louisville has been to eight Final Fours (7th all time) and is one of only 13 programs in the nation to have won two NCAA championships. Under Denny Crum, Louisville was the premier program of the 1980s, going to four Final Fours, winning two NCAA championships, and posting the best NCAA tournament record of that era. Louisville's rivalry with the University of Kentucky is considered one of the most intense in college sports by Louisville fans, and the basketball game is commonly known as the Dream Game by locals and Battle for the Bluegrass by those outside the Commonwealth. Louisville also maintains basketball rivalries with West Virginia, Cincinnati, Memphis and Marquette. The Cardinals have won 18 or more games 37 of the past 40 years, including 15 years with 24 or more wins. University of Louisville basketball tradition As of the end of the 2008-09 season, UofL had an all-time 1587–831 record in 94 seasons of intercollegiate basketball. The Cardinals are 16th among all NCAA schools in victories and Tie-9th in winning percentage. On March 16, 2009, UofL was ranked #1, during the season, for the first time in its 93 year men's basketball program, a ranking that it would carry through the final poll of the regular season and into the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Louisville is the only school in the nation to have claimed the championship of three major national post-season tournaments including the 1948 NAIB championship, the 1956 NIT title and the 1980 and 1986 NCAA championships. UofL basketball has been named the seventh best all-time basketball program by Street and Smith's, The Sporting News, and CBS Sportsline. Eighteen Louisville players have earned All-America status, the most recent being Francisco Garcia in 2005. The Cardinals have had 59 players taken in the NBA Draft, the most recent being Earl Clark and Terrence Williams, who were chosen in the first round in the 2009 NBA Draft. Louisville has made 37 NCAA Tournament appearances (5th all-time) and 14 NIT appearances. The Cardinals have reached the NCAA Tournament 24 of the last 31 years (six of the last nine years, 12 of last 16). The Cards have reached the Sweet 16 on 23 occasions. Louisville is fifth in tournament victories (62). UofL has a 62–37 overall NCAA Tournament record, reaching the Final Four eight times. Louisville owns a 664–136 record in 54 seasons in Freedom Hall (.83 winning percentage), the Cards' home since 1956. Freedom Hall has been the site of six NCAA Final Fours, four additional NCAA events and 10 conference tournaments. ESPN College Basketball magazine once named Freedom Hall as the nation’s “Best Playing Floor.” Louisville has won its conference championship or finished second in its league in 22 of the last 31 years. Louisville has two representatives in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Cardinal All-American and former Washington Bullets All-Star Wes Unseld, who was inducted in 1988, and former coach Denny Crum, who was inducted in ‘94. Louisville has ranked among the top 10 nationally in average home attendance each of the last 27 years, including the last 22 straight in the nation's top five (18,316 in '05-06, fourth in the nation). Two of the top 10 all-time crowds in Freedom Hall came during the 2005-06 season. A Freedom Hall record 20,091 fans attended the Cardinals’ Jan. 21 game against Connecticut. In 2010, a new Freedom Hall attendance record was set when 20,135 fans witnessed the Cardinals defeat #1 ranked Syracuse Orange in the final University of Louisville game in the arena. With sellout crowds the norm and ranking third nationally in home attendance, the Cardinals have a waiting list of more than 4,000 wanting to purchase season tickets. The Cardinals have been ranked on 429 occasions in the AP poll, seventh most all-time. UofL rose to as high as No. 4 during the 2005-06 season on Dec. 12, when the Cards had won their first six games. Louisville was No. 7 in the AP preseason poll and No. 8 in the ESPN/USA Today preseason poll last year. Surprisingly, with all of their success, they have never held the number one ranking in either of the two major polls until March 16, 2009. UofL is second all-time in the NCAA with 46 consecutive winning seasons (not current). The Cards played winning basketball from 1944-45 through 1989-90, winning 20 or more games on 31 occasions during that period. U of L has 59 players who have reached 1,000 points for their careers for the most players in NCAA Division I to reach that total. Louisville is 101–0 all-time when scoring 100 or more points. UofL has been the most profitable college basketball program in the nation for three straight years.ESPN - Lawsuit targets NCAA's capping of scholarship costs.Forbes: In Pictures: The Most Valuable College Basketball Teams Valued at $24.4 million, Louisville's basketball team is ranked third on Forbes.com's The Most Valuable College Basketball Teams list. , Louisville has 59 1000-point career scorers, edging out North Carolina by one for most all time. Forwards Juan Palacios and Terrence Williams both reached the 1000 point mark in the 2007-08 season. As of March 14, 2009, Louisville achieved its first ever Big East Conference Tournament Championship, defeating Syracuse 76–66. On March 22, 2009, Louisville beat Siena in a close game to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Season summaries 2008-2009 season In the 2008-09 season, Louisville received a pre-season AP rank of #3. Led by Terrence Williams and Earl Clark, both of whom would be drafted in the 2009 NBA Draft, Louisville won both the Big East regular season championship with a 16-2 conference record and the Big East Tournament. The team earned a #1 AP ranking, and were named the #1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. Louisville eventually lost in the Elite Eight to #2-seed Michigan State, finishing the season 31-6. 2009-2010 season In the 2009-10 season, Louisville received a pre-season AP rank of #20, and reached as high as #16 before three early non-conference losses knocked them out of the top 25. On March 6, 2010, Louisville defeated #1 Syracuse in the team's final game at Freedom Hall. Louisville finished the season 20–13, 11–7 in Big East play. They received an at-large bid to the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, earning a 9 seed in the South Region where they lost to 8 seed California in the first round. 2010-11 season 2010-11 is the first season for Louisville playing in the KFC Yum! Center. Louisville opened the season unranked but entered the top 25 after defeating #16 Butler and #20 UNLV. They experienced success since those wins, taking down then-ranked #5 Connecticut, #13 ranked Syracuse, and #6 Pittsburgh. Louisville drew a #4 seed in the 2011 NCAA Tournament only to be faced against Morehead St. for the second time in three years. In the second round match up Morehead State defeated Louisville 62-61 to end Louisville's 2010-11 season. Notable former players As of December 2010, at least 15 former Cardinal players are playing professional basketball, with five of those (Derrick Caracter, Earl Clark, Francisco García, Samardo Samuels, and Terrence Williams) currently playing in the NBA. Reece Gaines and Dwayne Morton have previously played in the NBA, but are now playing in international leagues. * – player has been drafted by the listed team but has not yet played professionally. Several other former players have played in the NBA, including: *Butch Beard *Junior Bridgeman *Jack Coleman *Wesley Cox *"Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison *Lancaster Gordon *Darrell Griffith *Rodney McCray *Scooter McCray *Greg Minor *Dwayne Morton *Kenny Payne *Jim Price *Clifford Rozier *Derek Smith *LaBradford Smith *Felton Spencer *Barry Sumpter *Billy Thompson *Charlie Tyra *Wes Unseld *Milt Wagner *Samaki Walker *Rick Wilson Louisville has produced nineteen All-Americans, including: Year by year results The following is according to Louisville's 2008-10 media guide. References External Links *Official athletics site Category:NCAA Division I schools Category:Big East Conference members Category:Schools in Kentucky